


never a bother

by aileenwood



Series: whumptober 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Gen, Hurt Peter, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 13:44:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20995775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aileenwood/pseuds/aileenwood
Summary: "It's been only five months since he came back, and Tony is not ready to let him out into the world just yet again, it seems. He just wants to see Peter safe."After getting Peter back, Tony has a hard time seeing him getting hurt as Spider-man again.(whumptober prompts: stab wound & secret injury, embrace)





	never a bother

At 11:14 pm, Tony still hasn't received a text from Peter, but he lets it slide. The kid's school night curfew is at 11pm, but being late by fifteen to twenty minutes once won't make a difference, he convinces himself. He could easily open Karen's live feed and check for himself where Peter is, but he's practicing self-restraint these days, and trusting the kid to follow the curfew and text him once he makes it home safe is an important part of it. 

So he waits. 

Morgan is asleep and Pepper's at her office working late, so Tony distracts himself by preparing himself a cup of hot chocolate then heading back downstairs to work on some upgrades to Rhodey's suit. It gets his mind off Peter for a while, but then he receives a text from May, who's wondering if he heard from Peter. She's working a late shift and still hasn't received a text either. 

He checks the time. 11:53 pm. Still no text.

He sighs, pulling his chat with the kid open and sending him a quick text. _ You back home yet? _

Tony stares at it for a few seconds, clicks his tongue in annoyance and is about to go and check Karen's live feed when the app informs him his message was read. He waits a few more seconds, but when Peter doesn't make a move to start typing to answer him, Tony hits the call button.

It rings twice before Peter answers it.

"_Hey, Tony! Sorry!_"

"You better be," Tony mutters, sagging in relief at knowing his kid is fine. "Are you home?"

"_Yes, sorry, uh, forgot to text you,_" Peter answers, but his voice comes up a bit muffled, as if he's holding his phone between his cheek and shoulder. 

"It's fine, kiddo, just make sure you remember next-"

He interrupts himself when Peter emits a loud hiss and then a yelp, and that has Tony tensing on the spot immediately. A loud noise follows this then everything stops, and Tony can't hear anything.

"What is it?" he urges, sitting straight on his chair. "Peter?"

Tony hears a soft noise, then a voice. "_Sorry, I dropped my phone_," Peter says, suddenly lowering his tone. "_Uh, it's kinda dark because May's sleeping, so I can't see anything._"

Tony frowns. "I was texting her just two minutes ago, though? Isn't she working a late shift?"

Peter is suddenly silent. "_Uh_," he says after a few moments. "_I forgot._"

"Peter," Tony starts carefully, seeing through him right away even though he can't even actually _ see _ the kid. "What is going on? What did you do?"

"_Nothing, nothing, like I said the lights were out so I couldn't see anything but-_" 

This time Peter interrupts himself with another hiss, and Tony has had enough. Without bothering to pull his phone away from his face so Peter can't hear him, he calls out to FRIDAY, asking her to get Peter's vitals from Karen. 

They appear on his screen a few seconds later, and Peter's panicked reassurances soon become muffled by the ringing in Tony's ears originated from the raw panic he feels from looking at the data in front of him. 

_ Small tear in the suit, right portion of the lower abdomen. Low blood pressure. _

Just as quick as he lost it, Tony gets back. 

"I don't want to hear another _ single _ word from you," Tony manages to say in almost a whisper. He think his voice will crack if he raises it too much. "I'm calling Happy to pick you up and get you to the Compound. Stay _ exactly _ where you are and don't do anything stupid."

As he speaks, he's already heading upstairs to let Pepper know what's going on. As he climbs up the steps to her office, he puts Peter on hold and dials Happy, who answers right away. 

"What's up, boss?"

"I need you to pick Peter up," he says as he opens the door to the office. Pepper look up from her desk with her eyebrows raised, clearly not pleased at being interrupted, but her expression quickly morphs into something concerned. He certainly looks like a hot mess, trembling all over and on the verge of a panic attack. "He- He's been fucking stabbed and decided not to let anyone know, he probably hacked the suit again, and he's at home. I need- I need you to get him to the Compound. I'll meet you guys there."

"On it," he hears Happy say, and the sound of quick footsteps on the other side of the line. He hangs up and Tony's back with Peter, who has gone scarily silent. 

"Peter?" he asks just as Pepper makes it to stand in front of him, placing a hand on his arm. When the kid doesn't answer right away, he feels his heart hammer against his heart. "Kid, for _ fuck's_-"

"_I'm here, I'm here, sorry_," Peter replies hurriedly. "_I'm fine, Tony, it has happened be_-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, I don't wanna know," Tony snaps, finally raising his voice because the idea of Peter treating a fucking _ stab wound _ without him knowing is completely horrifying, and it just won't do Tony any good right now. "Just- Listen, Happy is going to pick you up and take you to the Compound. I'll meet you guys there, should take an hour or so. According to what Karen has shown me you should be fine by then."

"_Tony_, _you_ _really_ _don't_ _need_ _to_-"

"Shut _ up_, I don't want to know. See you there. Tell Karen to call me _ immediately _ in case something happens, but I'll have her on alert if your conditions worsen."

He hangs up, takes a shuddering breath. Pepper places her other hand on his other arm, and squeezes gently. 

"I'll let May know once her shift ends," she says. 

"Okay," Tony nods, feeling a sharp pang in his chest. He places his hand on her shoulder for support, and feels that it's a little bit harder to draw in the next breath. And the next one.

"Tony," Pepper starts. "Hey, he'll be fine, honey."

"I know," he nods shakily, suddenly feeling like his legs might give out. He quickly makes it to the loveseat in the corner of the room, then buries his face on his hands, willing himself to just get over with it. He needs to get going. He needs to get to Peter who is bleeding out on his own-

"Tony, breathe," he hears Pepper, and when he comes back to it she's kneeling in front of him, hands on his knees. She gently takes one of his hands and places it on top of her chest, which is rising and falling slowly with her breathing. "Breathe with me."

At first, like always, it's hard. But he attempts to follow the rhythm of Pepper's breathing under his palm, tries to count along with her, and it begins to work. He starts to see more clearly, even though his heart rate is still too high. 

"He'll be fine," she repeats softly, but firmly. "It is _ not _ like last time, honey. He'll be fine by tomorrow and come over this weekend again, like he always does, and we'll spend time together. He's _ fine _, I know it. You can tell by the way he was arguing back with you, yeah?"

Tony manages a weak and wet chuckle and nods. He tries to repeat her words to himself, that it is not like last time, he's not even losing much blood, but it's so _fucking hard_. Just the thought of Peter hurting in any way makes his skin crawl. Living for five years without him was too much, and now that he miraculously came back, any threat of losing him again, no matter how small it is, is too terrifying. But he doesn't think Peter understands - he's still the same, and probably has no idea what those five years were like. The mourning. The missing. Tony doesn't blame him, but it surely makes his job harder. 

It's been only five months since he came back, and Tony is not ready to let him out into the world just yet again, it seems. He just wants to see Peter safe.

It takes a few more minutes to fully calm down, but then he's ready to go. He kisses Pepper goodbye, promises he will update her on everything, then sets off.

.

Due to the time it took Tony to leave home, he arrives after them at the Compound even though he was flying. He meets Happy at the entrance to the medbay, who tells him Bruce already stitched Peter up, who's now resting.

"Thank you, Hap," he says, a bit dizzily. The other man pats him on the shoulder as he moves past him towards Peter's room.

The lights are dim inside, but Peter's wide awake sitting on the bed. Tony lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of him, hurriedly closing the door behind him before approaching the bed with quick steps.

It looks like Peter was about to say something, but Tony stops him by pulling him into a tight embrace, still minding his wound. He tucks Peter's head right beneath his chin, presses a kiss right on top of it.

"Never," he begins quietly, a bit shakily. "Do that again."

"I'm sorry," Peter replies. 

Tony gives him a squeeze before pulling back, placing his hands on the kid's shoulders. "Why did you think it was a good idea not to tell anyone, hm?" he inquiries. "Is this still about the whole _ I'm a teenager, I can do everything my myself _ thing?"

"No, just," Peter sighs, looking away. "I just didn't want to bother anyone."

"Bother?" Tony echoes, shocked. "Peter, you were _ stabbed. _ And yeah, we're still going to talk about how you got Karen into not telling me," he adds as a side note, to which Peter cringes. "That's an emergency. You have the _ right _ to bother me."

"I know, but-"

"You know what, even if it wasn't an emergency," Tony continues. "Even if it was scratch, I would like you to tell me. I want to know everything, and that would _ never _ bother me, you hear me? Where did you even get that from, kiddo?"

He brushes a curl away from Peter's forehead, feeling helpless and honestly, a bit heartbroken. Hearing Peter admit that he thinks telling Tony he's been stabbed would bother him is one of the fucking saddest things he's ever heard. Is he doing anything wrong?

"I know you would want to come here, and I didn't want you to leave home this late because of me, especially because I only let this happen because I was stupid during patrol," Peter murmurs, avoiding his eyes. 

Tony holds him by the shoulders again, giving him a squeeze. "Kiddo, listen to me carefully. You know how long five years can be?" he says, and Peter looks right back at him. "That's half a decade. A pretty long time if you ask me. Hell, I went five _ entire _ years without looking after you. Even though I had great moments, especially with Morgan, I missed you so _ much _ through it all, Pete. And I got a miracle, you know. I got you back. And now... I just want to make sure you're safe, so it never happens again, you get that? You would _ never _ bother me."

Peter nods and Tony watches as his eyes well up with tears. "Sorry," he croaks again, and it's all it takes for Tony to pull him in again.

"C'mere," he mutters, letting the kid sniffle softly against his jacket. "I know things changed drastically for you and your Aunt, so let me help you get back on track, yeah? Don't hide things, _ please." _

"I won't," Peter promises quietly, fisting the back of Tony's jacket. 

Tony knows it will be a hard promise to keep up with, but now that he knows what's going on inside the kid's head, he'll be there all the way, paying even more attention.

He turns his head only to press a kiss on Peter's temple, and the kid holds him just a bit tighter. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!
> 
> i don't plan on writing all the whumptober prompts since i don't really have the time, but i might combine a few more to write one or two more oneshots throughout the month. let's see how it goes :-)
> 
> come hmu on [tumblr](https://parkernotes.tumblr.com)!


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